This week, Sleydo’, a Gidimt’en Clan member, will go on trial alongside Gitxsan Shay Lynn Sampson and Haudenosaunee Corey Jocko.

This week, Sleydo’, a Gidimt’en Clan member, will go on trial alongside Gitxsan Shay Lynn Sampson and Haudenosaunee Corey Jocko.

Criminal Contempt Accused of Land Defenders Arrested at CGL Drill Site: Molly Wickham, Shay Lynn Sampson, and Corey Jocko go on trial.

Land Defenders Arrested at CGL Drill Site on Charges of Criminal Contempt: Molly Wickham, Shay Lynn Sampson, and Corey Jocko go on trial.

The trial for three individuals detained in November 2021 in Wet’suwet’en territory, Smithers, started on Monday morning. They are accused of breaking a court-issued injunction that forbids anybody from obstructing access to work sites or roadways utilized in the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

One of the defendants on trial is Molly Wickham, whose given name is Sleydo. Wet’suwet’en, who are opposed to the 670-kilometer gas pipeline, have frequently used Sleydo as a spokesperson. Sleydo was previously detained in January 2019 under an interim injunction that was first granted to Coastal GasLink one month before. The corporation was later awarded an interlocutory injunction by the British Columbia Supreme Court, which is in place until the pipeline is finished.

One of the defendants on trial is Molly Wickham, whose given name is Sleydo. Wet’suwet’en, who are opposed to the 670-kilometer gas pipeline, have frequently used Sleydo as a spokesperson. Sleydo was previously detained in January 2019 under an interim injunction that was first granted to Coastal GasLink one month before. The corporation was later awarded an interlocutory injunction by the British Columbia Supreme Court, which is in place until the pipeline is finished.

This week, Sleydo’, a Gidimt’en Clan member, will go on trial alongside Gitxsan Shay Lynn Sampson and Haudenosaunee Corey Jocko. When RCMP officers broke into two buildings at the location where Coastal GasLink was getting ready to drill beneath the Morice River—a holy river revered by the Wet’suwet’en as Wedzin Kwa—all three of them were taken into custody.

Sleydo’, a member of the Gidimt’en Clan, will stand trial this week with Haudenosaunee Corey Jocko and Gitxsan Shay Lynn Sampson. All three of them were arrested after RCMP police stormed into two buildings at the site where Coastal GasLink was preparing to drill into the Morice River, a sacred river known to the Wet’suwet’en as Wedzin Kwa.

According to prosecution attorney Paul Battin, the crown plans to concentrate on material directly connected to the three accused parties’ criminal contempt counts during the first week of the two-week trial. The court will then take into consideration motions submitted by the defence last year, asking for a judicial stay of proceedings based on police behavior and alleged Charter violations during the arrests, if Justice Michael Tammen finds there is sufficient evidence to find the defendants guilty.

“We plan to limit the evidence that is called this week to the facts of criminal contempt, not to the accusations made in the defendants’ applications,” Battin informed the court.

The Wet’suwet’en hereditary leadership has long opposed building pipelines over the ancestral lands of the country. Over the previous five years, this has prompted several high-profile police activities that have resulted in dozens of arrests. About thirty persons were taken into custody at two places close to the pipeline route on November 18 and 19, 2021.

Following a four-day standoff that obstructed access to the Morice Forest Service Road and, consequently, two work camps for the pipeline project, the police intervention lasted for two days. On Nov. 18, 2021, the RCMP took action to enforce the company’s injunction. That day, they arrested over a dozen individuals and reopened the road to construction traffic, enabling supplies to be delivered to the sites.

Sabina Dennis, a Dakelh Nation member who was put on trial in November of last year, was one of the people detained on November 18, 2021. Dennis was the first individual tried on criminal charges under the injunction; nevertheless, Tammen ruled that Dennis had entered a region covered by Coastal GasLink’s injunction with the intention of mediating a peaceful resolution. Dennis was subsequently declared not guilty.

Sleydo and Sampson were taken into custody just after noon on November 19, according to information presented in court on Monday. The RCMP moved to make the arrests at a small building close to the Marten Forest Service Road, which leaves the Morice approximately 63 kilometers southwest of Houston, British Columbia, and gives access to Coastal GasLink’s drill site. Jocko was taken into custody in a different cabin, the court was informed. The land defenders who were occupying the area called it “Coyote Camp.

sent to Smithers after being taken to the Houston RCMP station with other individuals who had been detained that same day, according to Battin. A few days later, a bail hearing took place, and they were freed from the Prince George RCMP detachment.

Two journalists, Michael Toledano and Amber Bracken, were involved in the same-day arrests in the structures and were detained for several days. While Bracken and the news organization she was working for at the time of her arrest, the Narwhal, declared they would sue the RCMP for damages, wrongful arrest, wrongful detention, and violation of Charter rights, Coastal GasLink announced a month later that it would not pursue legal action against the journalists.

During the Nov. 19 arrests, racist statements regarding Sleydo’s face paint—which is intended to honor missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls—were heard on audio that police had made disparaging remarks about the arrestees.

According to Battin, this week the Crown plans to call seven witnesses. They include two RCMP officers who were present during the arrests, as well as staff members of Coastal GasLink and Forsythe Security, the pipeline corporation’s private security business.

The first witness on Monday was Julie Jones, a private investigator hired by the RCMP to recover and preserve recordings sent to social media accounts endorsing opponents of the Wet’suwet’en pipeline. Jones had already testified during Chief Dsta’hyl Adam Gagnon’s trial. Gagnon was taken into custody on October 27, 2021, in a different location close to the pipeline route. The court’s ruling on Dsta’hyl’s case has not yet been made public.